Abbott once branded the Home Office a ‘fundamentally racist organisation’

Asked why voters should back Labour, Mrs Abbott told the BBC’s Andrew Marr: “I think there is something to be said for a Home Secretary who has actually worked in the Home Office, I worked there for three years”.

But she was left red-faced after her previous comments slamming the department emerged.

Diane Abbott refuses to be pressed on her previous IRA statements on The Andrew Marr Show